Alternate zombie-novel dust jackets

On October 26th, my first novel, Rise Again, comes out. It is about the zombie apocalypse, probably because I design theme parks for a living. I aimed high with the book, hoping to appeal not just to genre fans but general readers, too. But not everybody wants to be seen with a zombie novel. And you can't read a zombie novel in every setting.

Being an artist-writer type, I made these alternate covers to camouflage the book for any situation. With these new, downloadable and printable jackets, readers can enjoy the novel anywhere from church to classroom without fear of obloquy, if not violent death

21 Responses to “Alternate zombie-novel dust jackets”

While I agree slapping zombies on it is, ultimately, heavy-handed, I don’t think the cover is THAT awful. I wouldn’t be embarrassed holding it (am I supposed to be embarrassed?). Can’t ID the specific font (I guess sans serif is scary now..) but the cheeky alternatives you do offer are entertaining. So good on you for that, sir.

I once received a copy of book from an author who was basically sort of giving them away as self-promotion. It had a nice, cozy inscription — “hope you and your FAMILY [emphasis mine] enjoy the book, sincerely X” and I remember it distinctly because it was for a novel about rape and murder. THAT book had a truly egregious cover. This one is just not very offensive in comparison, not even close. It’s a little generic and not totally imaginative, but it’s far from awful.

I would have taken the author’s thoughts as more tongue-in-cheek (which they still are, considering the alt-covers) but his talk about how he wanted to aim “high” (because appealing to a genre’s fans is so … degrading) just came across too sincerely.

Ironic that fear would likely be the motivating factor here… Attack of the zombie marketing functionaries! Did they learn nothing from the lovely and clever Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (and series) second glance covers? Love the roll-your-own book cover concept… Kudos to the author!

Funny — there was a (I believe NYT) article a couple of weeks ago where the author was complaining about people using e-readers on the subway because she couldn’t spy on what people were reading they way she could by looking at book covers. A bit creepy, actually. But still, I’d think if your self-image is so fragile that you would be upset by strangers knowing what you are reading, maybe you shouldn’t be reading it in public.

Is the book available on the Nook? no dust jacket needed (as I’m sure others have pointed out). I think just about all books I read for pleasure from now on out are going to be e-books. I still find myself buying graphic novels and tech books in paper though. Cool story huh.

I agree. It does look self-published. While I wouldn’t be opposed to drooling zombies and red sunsets on the cover, I am opposed to the designer’s decisions. The ability to download a grunge font from Dafont and manhandle the hue slider shouldn’t qualify designers in 2010, but the more I look at it, the more I cringe. I imagine a Craigslist ad that begins with “Great opportunity for student designer to build their portfolio…” is behind this.

/why yes I’m wearing my turtle costume why do you ask?
//no really I do like zombies. I’m looking forward to The Walking Dead on AMC, I’m looking forward to some new DLC for Left 4 Dead. so really can we keep the zombies coming? please?

I love books set in theme parks, and so was disappointed that they aren’t mentioned in the synopsis. Looks like this book is, in fact, all about a zombie uprising. That being the case, of course the publisher wants a cover that the big zombie-lit audience can find. They’re in it to maximize sales, not break you out of the genre you wrote for.

This is wonderful self-promotion, a fine hack, and you can bet Simon & Schuster does not have a problem with this. Ben Tripp has entertained me and has made it to my “must read” list with this. Nice work, first-time novelist! I hope your talent for writing matches your talent for pushing my bravo_good-hack! button.